01-15-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
SANDOVAL - Webber Township picked up an important road win on Friday night, even though it wasn't a beauty of a victory.

Coach Brad Beaty's young Trojans were tested by Sandoval but they managed to pull out a 53-49 win to improve to 11-4 overall and 3-1 in the Midland Trail Conference race.

Despite not being able to make free throws down the stretch while allowing Sandoval senior guard LaRon Anderson to light them up for 31-points, Webber held on in a “we'll take it” sort of triumph.

Balance on the offensive end was the key for the Webber win, with three players in double-figures in scoring.

Charles Neal, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, led the way with 16-points, including three big buckets in the fourth quarter.

Freshman guard Dylan Stratton also came up big, hitting three 3-pointers in the first half, finishing with 13-points.

Six-foot-four senior forward Corey Hammer, sledged home 13-points, all in the first three quarters.

“That is the number one thing we talked about in the locker room before we came out here. Sandoval is a hard place to play and they have two of the best players in southern Illinois (Anderson and Williams) so we have to play all four quarters,” said Coach Beaty. “No matter if we get off to a good start or a bad start, we've got to play through all four quarters here.”

For Sandoval and head coach Cole Schomaker it was a close loss that dropped his club to 6-7 overall and 1-4 in the MTC.

Anderson proved unstoppable at times for the Trojans, as this 5-foot-9 senior did most of his scoring driving to the basket.

He also made 7-of-9 free throws when he was fouled.

Unfortunately he didn't get a lot of help from his teammates.

Senior Brandon Williams, a 6-foot-3 forward, netted 10-points for the Black Hawks.

However he got hit just above the left eye early in the first quarter and after getting wrapped up to stop the bleeding, he struggled for most of the game.

He did come up with some key points in the fourth quarter as Sandoval attempted a rally.

But overall, Webber Township defended well enough to earn the win over a team that they will face again on Tuesday night at home in the annual Midland Trail Conference tournament.

In a first quarter that saw six lead changes, the Trojans led 12-10 at the horn with two big scores from Hammer, the second of which turned into a conventional three-point play after a made free throw to end the quarter scoring.

Anderson started off hot as well, netting six-points in the frame with two scores coming on transition drives to the basket.

This left-handed point guard also added a pair of foul shots to keep the Black Hawks close.

Sandoval scored 18-points in the second quarter and Anderson had 14 of them.

He hit consecutive shots to open the scoring for Sandoval in the quarter with a 3-pointer and another drive down the baseline for a bucket.

Despite not converting a free throw while being fouled, the Black Hawks grabbed the lead.

He made up for it later by converting a three-point play and also closing the scoring in the half with another fast break lay up.

Webber finally put together some stops to get themselves a brief offensive run to take a four-point advantage to the half.

Stratton added two more 3-pointers to the scoring and Neal notched six-points in the stanza.

He picked up a steal and fast break lay in to go with a pair of inside baskets.

His rebound bucket gave Webber its largest lead of the night at 32-26 with :34 left in the half.

Anderson scored just seconds later and the scoreboard read 32-28 at intermission.

Sandoval stayed close in the third quarter but couldn't get back the advantage.

Mainly because the Black Hawks couldn't keep Hammer off of the offensive glass.

Three different times the forward scored in the paint with two of them coming on rebounds.

His basket late in the quarter made it 41-38 heading to the fourth.

Sandoval opened the final countdown with five straight points from Williams.

A 3-pointer from the left corner and a rebound stick-back produced the Black Hawks' final lead at 43-41 with 6:59 to go.

Jaxon Helm, a 5-foot-10 junior guard, hit a pair of 3-pointers in the contest for the Trojans and his second bomb came in the fourth quarter that gave the lead back to Webber Township for good.

A three-point play by Stratton on a drive in the lane and two more scores by Neal pushed the lead to 53-47 with just 1:01 remaining.

Webber left the door open for the Black Hawks to make a move, but Sandoval couldn't capitalize.

The Trojans whiffed on three consecutive 1-and-1 free throw chances in the final :53.7 but Sandoval missed four shots on their end of the floor and a free throw opportunity.

By the time Williams scored his final points on a rebound of his own miss with :05 remaining, Webber calmly let the clock run out without in-bounding the ball for the league road win.

“We turn around and play them again on Tuesday night in the conference tournament. They are well coached. The Anderson kid, you can't guard him. You can put two guys on him and he will find the open guy,” said Coach Beaty. “When you think you are comfortable with him, the Williams kid goes off on you. But I thought our guys were tough at the end. I told them that this is a good game to build some character. Especially our young guys.”

Sandoval also got eight-points from 6-foot-2 junior Garrett Howell.

Those three players were the only ones to score for the Black Hawks.

Webber also got points from Helm (six) and sophomore Brody Mount (four) in the win.

“We have been searching for what defense we should be playing (zone) and I think we possibly found that tonight,” said Coach Schomaker. “I thought we battled. LaRon played his heart out and there were some shots Brandon usually makes that he didn't hit. I will say Garrett Howell stepped up big for us. It is hit or miss for us. We are going to live or die by that 3-point line. We don't have any big guys.”

Sandoval attempted a lot of field goal attempts but they didn't make enough to put this one in the win column.

They were just 19-of-62 overall (30.6 percent) which included 4-of-24 from the arc.

The Black Hawks held a slight rebounding edge (33-31) and committed just nine-turnovers.

“We battled tonight and we aren't happy with losing but they (Webber) are a well coached team and we will take them on again Tuesday night,” added Coach Schomaker.

The Trojans netted 22-of-51 shots from the floor overall (43.1 percent) with 5-of-14 treys.

Webber turned it over 13-times in the win.

Both of these squads will lace it up next week to begin the MTC event with opening round games at the higher seeded team's building.

Webber is the number three seed while Sandoval is the six.

“Anytime you get out of here with a win, its a good night,” added Coach Beaty.